Sick & Injured Pets

In a life-threatening emergency, we STRONGLY encourage you to take your pet to whichever emergency clinic is nearest to you to help injured pets. They are staffed and equipped to handle animal emergencies, and would be able to begin care quickly upon your arrival.

While Dublin Animal Hospital is not an emergency clinic, we do our best to accommodate our client’s medical emergencies. Many of our staff members have experience working in emergency veterinary medicine, and are very good at working with animals in shock or pain.

Day-Of Emergency Appointments

We reserve several appointment slots per day that are specifically held for “day-of emergencies.” If your pet has a medical issue that needs to be addressed right away, call our office to see if there are any “day-of emergency” appointments available. There is no guarantee that such an appointment will be available when you want one, or that you will see your regular doctor. These appointments are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, and they do fill up quickly in the morning.

Drop-Off Appointments

When an injured pet needs medical care the same day, but all of our appointment slots are full, existing clients may be offered a “drop-off appointment.” If the client accepts, the pet is dropped off at Dublin and a doctor evaluates the patient between their scheduled appointments. It is important to realize that the doctor may not be able to see the pet for several hours, but technicians and assistants will be monitoring them in the meantime.

Urgent Care exams do cost more than a regular appointment because the doctor needs to see the sick pet in addition to their scheduled appointments. We require a deposit upon arrival to cover the cost of the exam and possibly to begin diagnostics. Once a doctor has seen the pet, they will call the client to discuss if the pet needs x-rays, blood work, surgery, or medications. Once an agreement is met, the doctor will begin care for the pet. If additional workup is needed, or if test results need to be discussed, the doctor will call the client again. Once the pet is ready to go home, the doctor or technician will call the client to let them know. The remaining balance is due at pick-up.

In order to better serve our loyal clients, Dublin does not offer drop-off appointments for new clients. In order to use a Drop-Off Urgent Care Exam, you must be a current, active client. Being able to drop off your sick or injured pet for a same-day exam is a perk of being a Dublin client. If your pet is sick and you have never been to Dublin, we encourage you to try the nearest animal emergency hospital.

Emergency Surgery

Emergency surgeries are performed at Dublin whenever necessary. Our doctors are all exceptional surgeons, and have years of experience performing both routine and emergency surgeries on dogs, cat, pocket pets, small mammals, and exotic pets. The safety of your pet is always our first priority. Our surgery suite and medical equipment are sterilized to human medicine standards. We require any pet scheduled for surgery or dental work to have pre-anesthetic bloodwork done first, to test liver and kidney values. During surgery, we closely monitor heart rate (ECG machine), blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels, as well as watch for physical signs of distress. Everything we do is designed to minimize risk, and ensure the best possible outcome for your pet.

Diagnostics in our In-House Laboratory:

We have an in-house laboratory capable of testing blood, skin, urine, and fecal samples usually within an hour.

Our in-house lab can test for:

Heartworm

Giardia

Feline Leukemia (FeLV)

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV)

Intestinal Parasites (roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms)

Exfoliative Cytology

Complete Blood Counts (CBC)

We also use outside reference labs for less urgent or more specialized tests. We usually receive lab results within 24 hours.

Radiology and Ultrasound

Dublin has a high quality digital radiograph unit, capable of producing detailed, clear x-ray images in seconds. Digital x-ray has become the new standard in veterinary medicine because it is faster, cleaner, and easier to use than traditional film x-ray, while also producing superior image quality. The most important aspect for us is that digital x-rays can be taken very quickly, so pets don’t need to be held still on the table for long as technicians get a clear picture. Our techs and doctors can know in an instant if they need to reposition the pet for a clearer image while it is still on the table.

Hospitalization

If your pet should ever need to be hospitalized for intensive care, rest assured Dublin has the facility and staff to care for critically ill pets. During the day, our patients are closely monitored by their doctor, technicians, and assistants. At night, a technician checks on the pet in the late evening to make sure they are alright and administer medications. Even though Dublin is closed half of Saturday and all Sunday, technicians still come in to check on hospitalized patients several times a day. If a hospitalized patient’s condition ever worsens, the owners are notified right away and presented with options on how to proceed.